The German automaker assumes 50% of the charging operations for electric vehicles will be done by the owners at home in future. New Delhi: Ahead of launching its full-electric car sharing service WeShare in Berlin in a few days, German automobile group Volkswagen has joined hands with Schwarz Group companies Lidl and Kaufland supermarket chains. Under this strategic partnership VW's WeShare fleet of electric vehicles will receive exclusive right to use Schwarz's EV charging infrastructure overnight outside opening hours, from 11 pm to 6:30 am.

The Schwarz will set up 140 public electric vehicle charging stations for their customers at 60 Lidl and 10 Kaufland branches in Berlin. This partnership is expected to make the utilization of the EV charging stations more efficient. The Lidl and Kaufland outlet based EV charging stations will boost the public charging infrastructure in Berlin by around 20%.

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The German automaker assumes 50% of the charging operations for electric vehicles will be done by the owners at home in future. 20% charging is likely to be done at the workplace, while 5% will take place at highways and not less than 25% to take place in public places.

Based on its assumption, Volkswagen is installing charging systems in private homes and workplaces via its subsidiary Elli. Also, it is working on the development of fast charging network for EVs n major European highways under the IONITY project.

In fact, segment leaders like Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Hero MotoCorp have reported de-growth of 34.3 per cent, 45 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively giving a clear indication of a prolonged slowdown in the sector.